Local Voices, North Zone, Mar. 30

March 30, 2011

Tax burden

The Tribune editorial board's logic in supporting eliminating the mortgage interest deduction is completely wrong ("Pre-empt the next crisis," Editorial, March 23 ). Apparently you folks don't understand that a mortgage loan is no different than the loans businesses take out every day. And the primary reason mortgage interest is deductable is not "to promote homeownership"; it is because we have a long history in this country of not double-taxing the same dollar, particularly interest expenses that fund capital expenses.

Let's say a company wants to build a factory. What does it do? It takes out a loan. And the interest is an expense on the profit and loss, which reduces its tax bill dollar for dollar. The lender, however, pays taxes on every penny of that interest income.

A mortgage is the same thing — a capital expense. As such, the interest is deductable to the borrower; the lender pays the taxes on the interest.

Why should a business (which is, after all, a legal fiction) be able to take out a loan for the purchase of an asset and write off the interest but a family (made up of non-fictitious, real people) be unable to do the same thing? It's bad enough that the mortgage interest deduction only reduces taxes by the filer's tax rate, not dollar-for-dollar. But elimination? That's crazy.

What you are proposing is an insult to the real, living, breathing persons who make up this country at the expense of fictional entities who only exist via the fiction of legal "personhood" under state corporate law. You're also taxing the same dollar twice.

Think again, Tribune.

— Dave Schmidt, Wilmette

Pension worries

Teachers are right to be worried that their pension plans will not be fully funded when it comes time for them to retire ("Teachers' $40B pension hole; With underfunded plan, educators worry over future, and districts fear local taxpayers will take a bigger hit," Page 1, March 23).

But this worry should not be confined to Illinois teachers alone. Your local public safety workers should also be concerned that adequate pension funds will not be available when their retirement rolls around. Why? Because more and more police officers and firefighters are being enrolled into a severely flawed pension system in which Springfield dictates the benefits and local property taxes foot the bill.

It isn't enough to make minor adjustments to the system; the entire approach must be changed in order to ensure the viability of the program for current employees, and to ensure the ability of local taxpayers to pay for the benefits Springfield has imposed.

Support a change in the system by pushing for a change in the retirement benefits for teachers, state and municipal workers. Support a 401(k)-style retirement plan for all public employees. Ask your legislators why they won't support this needed change in Illinois

— Mike Basil, village trustee, founder of PROillinois,Wilmette

— Kathryn Ciesla, village trustee, founder of PROillinois, Northbrook

— Kati Spaniak, village trustee, founder of PROillinois,Northbrook

Vehicle safety

This is in response to "Back-seat battle; Parents say they'll weigh safety, reality on rear-facing rule" (News, March 23). I find it so hard to believe that when I was a kid, we did not have car seats; we had lap belts and we all survived. So what is so different about kids today? Are they weaker than us? Or are the drivers worse now because they are on their cell phones?

— Matthew Turner, Evanston

Face the rear

It was brilliant research that determined that rear-facing car seats for children up to 2 will reduce injuries and death. But why did they stop there? I forgot my high school physics, but it seems common sense that all of us would be safer in rear-facing seats, not just children to age 2.

Let's get the auto industry to make all seats in cars face the rear, with the exception of the driver. Too bad for the driver.

For that matter, why don't all airplane seats face backward? I'm sure it would reduce injuries in crashes. Did you ever notice at takeoff and landing when the flight attendants take their seats, they are facing backward? I wonder why.

— Ward Eldred, Glenview

Presidential acts

I recall Tribune columnist John Kass bubbling over with joy and pride when George W. Bush blundered into Iraq. He even wrote one column expressing his gratitude that Bush, not Al Gore, was president in the wake of Sept. 11, 2001.

Now that President Barack Obama is giving an object lesson on how to conduct a military operation effectively, multilaterally and efficiently, all Kass has to offer is sarcasm.

When this operation ends, and it will soon, thousands of lives will have been saved and Libyans, unlike Iraqis, will be grateful to an American president.